Machine vision covers inspection systems in which samples are examined using a camera and the image is analysed by computer with image-processing algorithms — increasingly deep-learning models. Operations performed include defect detection, dimension measurement, orientation detection, grading, sorting and counting, at speeds far beyond human inspectors. Food plants deploy it to remove defective products, foreign bodies and mislabelled packs, to check fill levels, seals and date codes, and to grade produce by size, colour and blemishes. Successful systems need controlled lighting, robust calibration against reference standards, and validation that detection rates meet the plant’s HACCP and quality plans; they complement, rather than fully replace, human oversight.